ROW 
ROW 413 
frequently aeted'during that and the following reign. Proceed¬ 
ing in his dramatic career, he gave to the public his “ Fair 
Penitent” in 1703. This is, perhaps, his most striking per¬ 
formance; for the plot is borrowed from Massinger’s “. Fatal 
Dowry,” to which it is miserably inferior in point of lan¬ 
guage and character, and by no means superior in arrange¬ 
ment or delicacy. He ipade. ap attempt in comedy in 1706, 
but did not succeed; and he was prudent enough not again 
to engage in a kind of composition unsuited to his genius. 
From that time to 1715, he brought out in succession the 
tragedies of “ Ulysses,” “ The Royal Convert,”. “ Jane 
Shore,” and “ Lady Jane Grey.” Of these, the two last 
only have survived on the stage, though all have their m&, 
rits. “ Jane Shore” to this day employs the talents of the 
principal performers, and never fails to be viewed with deep 
interest. During this interval he appeared as an editor 
of Shakspeare’s plays, prefixing an account of the life of 
that transcendant genius. 
Rowe was not so exclusively engaged in his poetical 
studies as to neglect those opportunities of entering into 
public life which his reputation and connexions afforded. 
He had decidedly joined the whig party, and when the 
Duke of Queensberry was made secretary of state, he was 
appointed by that nobleman his under-secretary. This post 
he held nearly three years, when the Duke died, and. his ser¬ 
vices were no more called for during the remainder of Queen 
Anne’s reign. Upon the authority of Pope, with whom he 
was well acquainted, it is affirmed that he applied to the 
treasurer, Lord Oxford, for employment, and that upon being 
asked by the minister whether he understood Spanish, 
taking it for a hint that some.ppst at the court of Spain was 
designed for him, he immediately applied to the study of 
_ that language; that waiting upon the treasurer again to iu- 
’form him that he had mastered the task, “ Then, Sir, (replied 
Lord Oxford) I envy you the pleasure of reading Don Quixote 
in the original”-—and dismissed him. As it does not ap¬ 
pear why this insult should be offered, and it is also impro¬ 
bable that, a stanch whig should ask a place, from a tory 
minister, some doubt attends the story. On the accession 
of George I. the place of laureat was conferred upon him, 
and certainly did not lose any. dignity by the exchange of 
Nahum Tate for Rowe.. To this poetical promotion were 
added the more valuable posts of one of the land-surveyors 
of the port of London, clerk of the closet to the Prince of 
Wales, and secretary of presentations to Lord-chancellor 
Parker. The emoluments of these offices, with his paternal 
.fortune, rendered him one of the best provided of the 
poetical fraternity, and enabled him to support a respectable 
station in society. He was twice married to women of good 
■connexions, and had a son by his first wife, and a daughter 
by the second. He died in December,.. 1718, in the 45th 
year of his age, and was interred among the poets in West¬ 
minster Abbey. His widow raised a sumptuous monument. 
to his memory, for which Pope wrote an epitaph, but not 
that which now appears. It was Indeed, rather a memorial 
of Dryden than of Rowe, whom it very faintly praised. 
The personal character of this poet is highly extolled. by 
his biographer Dr. Welwood, as possessing every amiable 
and estimable quality. A testimony of his agreeable ta¬ 
lents for society is given by Pope in one of his letters, who 
speaks of him as endowed with a vivacity and gaiety of dis¬ 
position almost peculiar to himself, and which rendered it 
painful to part with him. On the other hand, the same 
poet described Rowe to Warburton, as having a decent 
character, but no. heart; and he quoted Addison’s authority 
to the same purpose. 
It is in the quality of a tragic poet that Rowe has the 
principal claims upon posterity. Of that school which was 
founded, rather upon the model of French tragedy, than upon 
that of our ancient dramatists, Rowe may be placed in the 
vpry first rank; for of no other in, this class so many pieces 
still keep possession of the stage, or are read with so much 
pleasure ip the closet. It cannot be said, indeed, that he 
possesses in a high degree the principal parts of dramatic 
invention, such as the nice discriminations of character, and 
Vol. XXII. No. 1511. 
the skilful developement and varied play of passion • but his 
versification is singularly sweet, and his plays abound with 
what the French call tirades of sentiment, given with some 
force and elegance, and calculated to dwell on the mind. 
The fables, too, are generally interesting, and the situations 
often striking. . In one of his tragedies, that of Jane Shore, 
he has professed himself an imitator of the style of Shak- 
speare; but, as Dr. Johnson observes, it is difficult to conceive 
in what point he imagined this imitation to consist, for 
nothing can be more dissimilar than the mode and colour of 
writing in the two poets, as nothing could be less resembling 
than their genius. He gave versions of the “ Golden Verses 
of Pythagoras,” and of the first book of “ Quillet’s Calli- 
peediabut his great labour of. this kind was a translation 
of “ Lucan’s Pharsalia,” not published till after his death. 
This work Dr. Johnson does not scruple to call “ one of the 
greatest productions of English poetry,” for he has generally 
done more justice to industry than to invention. It is, indeed, 
a very respectable performance of the kind, though, when 
compared with the original, it will often appear diffuse, and 
though it sometimes exaggerates even the extravagance of the 
Latin poet. The “ Poetical Works” of Rowe, consisting 
of his plays and miscellaneous poems, were published col¬ 
lectively in 3 vols. 12mo.» 1719, with an account of hi3 life 
prefixed. His translation of the “ Pharsalia” was published 
soon after his death by Dr. Welwood, with a dedication to 
the king, by his widow. Biogr. Britan. Johnson s 
Engl. Poets. • ; 
ROWE, a township of the United States, in Franklin 
county, Massachusetts; 103 miles west-north-west of Boston; 
Population 839. 
ROWEL, s. [rouelie, Fr„] A little flat ring, or wheel of 
plate or iron, in horses’ bits. Cotgrave. 
A goodly person ! and could menage faire 
His stubborn steed with curbed canon bitt. 
Who under him did trample as the aire, 
And chauft that any on his backe should sitt: 
The yron rowels into frothy fome he bitt. Spenser. 
The points of a spur turning on an axis. 
He gave his able horse the head. 
And, bending forward, struck his agile heels 
Against the'panting sides of his poor jade 
Up to the rowel head. Shakspearei 
A rider like myself, who ne’er wore rowel 
Nor iron on his heel. Shakspeare. 
A mullet is the rowel of a spur, and hath never but five 
points; a star hath six. Peacham. 
He spurr’d his fiery steed 
With goring rowels , to provoke his speed. Dryden. 
A seton; a roll of hair or silk put in a wound to hinder 
it from healing, and provoke a discharge. 
To ROW'EL, v. a. To pierce through the skin, and 
keep the wound open by a rowel.-— Rowel the horse in the- 
chest. Mortimer. 
ROWEN. See Roughings. 
Bowen is a field kept up till after Michaelmas, that the 
corn left on the ground may sprout into green. 
Then spare it for rowen, til Michel be past. 
To lengthen thy dairie, no better thou hast. Tusser. 
RO'WER, s. One that manages an oar. 
Four gallies first, which equal rowers bear, 
Advancing in the watery lists appear. 
Dryden. 
ROWINGTON, a parish of England in Warwickshire 
6 miles north-west-by-west from Warwick. Population 839. 
ROWLEY (William), who stands in the third class of 
dramatic writers, lived in the reign of James I., and was 
one of the company of players belonging to the Prince of 
Wales. Little is known of him, except that he was in close . 
connection with all the principal .wits and poetical geniuses 
of that age, with some of whom he joined in their writings. 
By Wood he is. styled “ the ornament for wit and ingenuity 
of Pembroke-hall, Cambridge.” He was a considerable 
5 N benefactor 
